Droylsden Road Family Practice

A ‘dirty and cluttered’ GP surgery in Manchester has been ordered to clean up its act after being thrown into special measures.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Droylsden Road Family Practice ‘inadequate’ following an inspection by the health watchdog back in March.

Inspectors failed the Newton Heath surgery – run by Dr A Haq and Dr S Kahn – in five key areas, and say they don’t feel the problems can be fixed without additional support.

A report by the CQC said flooring in the practice was ‘visibly dirty’ and that inspectors had found an ‘extremely’ dirty treatment trolley in one room, which had a number of used drug items, such as injection equipment, anaesthetic cream and even an implant package on it.

Patients were found to be at risk of harm and there was no clinical accountability or responsibility in the running of the practice.

Inspectors said staff were not clear about reporting significant events, incidents and near misses, and there was no evidence of staff communicating about these issues or being able to learn from them.

They were told of one incident where a patient had suffered a severe allergic reaction to a vaccination given in clinic and were given emergency treatment by the form of an injection, but there were no records detailing what had happened.

Throughout the practice there was also a build-up of old medical equipment, test kits, confidential files and medicines – some of which were dirty and out of date.

Old dusty patient notes were also discovered on windowsills and on top of filing cabinets.

Sue McMillan, deputy chief inspector of General Practice at the CQC, said: “Whilst some people spoke positively about the practice, we received comments that were a cause for concern particularly about access to appointments and patients having their concerns being taken seriously during consultation. Action must be taken to address the wider concerns we identified so that patients receive safe, high-quality primary care.

“I do not believe that the practice is likely to resolve its challenges without external support. This is why we are placing the practice into special measures.”

She added that the surgery will be reinspected again in six months to check whether sufficient improvements have been made.

If the service remains inadequate, the CQC will consider taking steps to cancel its registration. The contract for the surgery is held by NHS England.

Dr Martin Whiting, chief clinical officer for the North Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We would like to reassure patients that we took prompt action with our NHS England colleagues so that there are robust plans in place to ensure continuity of care and services for everyone who uses the practice.

“The situation is a temporary measure so that the practice can address system and organisational issues by the end of June 2016.

“In the meantime, we remain resolute about putting patients first and upholding quality standards that match our vision for health care in north Manchester.”

Laura Browse, Head of Primary Care, Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership said: “Ensuring patients have access to high quality and safe GP services for patients is our number one priority.

“It is clear that the CQC review process has highlighted a series of significant organisational and operational issues at Droylsden Road Family Practice which require swift and decisive action.

“The CCG and NHS England have been working closely with the practice to address the areas of concern, support the necessary improvements to be made and ensure continuity of care for the practice’s patients is maintained.”

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Protesters in King’s Lynn fight against mental health service cuts

Protesters took to the streets of King’s Lynn to voice their anger at what they described as “continuous” cutbacks to mental health services in west Norfolk.

Mental health cuts protest

A protest march against cuts to mental health services and the Fermoy Unit at the QEH took place in King's Lynn town centre. Picture: Matthew Usher.

More than 100 campaigners marched from The Walks through the town centre before finishing outside the Majestic Cinema.

Peter Smith, former parliamentary candidate for south-west Norfolk said: “We are in the fight of our lives here.”

The protest was triggered by the Fermoy Unit, an in-patient NHS facility in Lynn for mental health, which campaigners say faces an uncertain future. The unit was briefly closed to new admissions earlier this month, but reopened last week, albeit with fewer beds.

Mr Smith said: “In my lifetime we have never had to fight like this, but what is the alternative?”

But Debbie White, director of operations for Norfolk at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said there were now no plans to axe the Fermoy Unit.

She added: “It is right that mental health services should be valued and funded on the same level as acute health services, and it is understandable people feel passionate about the Fermoy Unit remaining open.”

Labour party activist Jo Rust insisted the issue would not disappear. She said: “They have been talking about closing it for a long time. We will fight and we will not let them do that.”

Beth Anthony, 18 of Dersingham, said: “We are here to protest against the continuous cuts to the mental health service, we think it’s unacceptable. My younger brother suffers from poor mental health and has to travel to London... That is to the detriment of my family because we have to pay for him to go down by train every single month.”